


cast out the shadows

by unnbrella



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Drama, some dark shit, this fic was originally titled damn these clones are strong and honestly i shouldve kept it that way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24414517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unnbrella/pseuds/unnbrella
Summary: “We could have ruled the universe together,” claims Horde Prime. “You could have gotten everything you ever wanted.”The tears roll silently down her cheeks, but Catra refuses to let a whimper escape her throat. She will not let him see that he broke her.(aka what really happened to Catra on Horde Prime’s ship)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 56





	cast out the shadows

_“Wait, are you… are you saving me?”_

All she can hear is the brush of her own pacing footsteps, nothing else but the humming of the ship to drown out the noise of her thoughts.

_“Not you. Adora.”_

She didn’t think the ship could have even _less_ for her to do than before. At least before today, she still had the freedom to enter and leave as she pleased. Not like wandering up and down those everlasting corridors had been much fun, either. Still, it helped keep her mind off the circumstances.

_“You are beloved in my sight, and this is how you repay me.”_

But there are no corridors for her anymore. No more hallways to explore, no more windows to look out into the everlasting universe, and no more Glimmer. She’d never admit it out loud, but Catra never thought in a million years she would actually _miss_ that stupidly pink hair of hers.

_“Catra. I don’t understand.”_

Now all she has left to do is wait. Wait for whatever inevitable punishment Horde Prime intends to inflict on her. She’d seen what he did to Hordak. To make him ‘pure’ again, or however he had described it. Would that become her fate, too?

_“You will be of use to me.”_

All she’d been left with when they locked her in this cell were the possibilities of what Prime could have meant by that.

Still, all that matters is that Adora is safe. She’s flying far away on a ship somewhere and Horde Prime will never get within a mile of her ever again.

Catra’s not sure how long it’s been. Minutes or hours could have already passed by, but after what feels like an eternity of restless pacing, she hears the startling sound of the vast cell doors finally sliding open again and she’s suddenly snapped out of her thoughts. She freezes to look up, composing her posture. She hadn’t realized she had been anxiously biting her nails that entire time.

Her eyes meet two identical clones, still and disturbingly poised at the entrance of her cell.

She waits. The silence is nearly unbearable, until one of them finally speaks.

“Lord Prime demands your presence.”

She doesn’t miss the fact that ‘request’ has now become ‘demand’, to her.

When it’s clear they have nothing else to say, Catra swallows her fear and follows them out. They hover close behind her on either side, guiding her through the haunting hallways of the aircraft without a word.

Catra hadn’t realized before how terrifying it is not knowing what’s about to happen. Not until she had found herself on Horde Prime’s ship all those days ago. She used to always feel so sure of everything. Now, she just doesn’t know anymore. She’d like to tell herself that there’s nothing more they can do to her, but that isn’t true. There’s actually _so much_ they can do, and that’s what worries her the most. The fear of the unknown. Still, she forces it all down. She won’t let it bother her. She’s already broken.

When they finally stop and turn to face one of the doors, Catra immediately recognizes it from her exploring. It had always been locked though, along with many of the other mysterious doors on this ship. Confusingly, it’s not the same one as they were in before. The one with the water. Or… whatever that was.

When the doors slide open, she doesn’t expect what she sees.

Within the room, there are wires trailing along the floor and walls, more weird machine-looking tech that she doesn’t recognize, a countertop full of vials, and a single elevated chair in the middle of the room. The are no windows, only blinding white lights that hang from the ceiling, casting dark shadows in every other corner of the vast room. A distance behind the chair lurks Lord Prime himself, staring at her with his face expressionless and his hands held behind his back. He’s been waiting for her.

Before she knows it, they’re forcing her to kneel and her arms are locked tightly by the clones that restrain her. She doesn’t fight it – only stares emotionless at the ground. She expects to see Horde Prime’s feet step into view at any second, but he doesn’t.

Everything seems a haze as she feels her head being pulled back by the hair, forcing her to look up. She can tell Prime is just expecting her to meet his eyes from across the room. He’s definitely staring into hers. Still, Catra refuses.

“I’m disappointed in you, Little Sister,” Prime chides after what feels like a lifetime of anticipation. His words are level and evenly paced, echoing within the devoid room.

The sound of cutting hair seems so loud above the continuous buzzing noise of the tech around her. Her eyes can hardly even process the sight of it all falling pathetically around her knees. None of this seems real. It’s as if she’d wasted all her energy on trying to get Glimmer out of here that she can hardly even will herself to speak or care anymore.

Prime has clearly lost it if he thinks cutting off her hair of all things would bother her. She’d never been obsessed with physical vanity.

“We could have ruled the universe together,” he continues, casually eyeing his own fingers. “You could have gotten everything you ever wanted.”

With her gaze still fixed on the floor, a wave of foreign regret washes over her heart. She had thought that’s what she wanted – at one point in her life. It used to be so simple. Now, she’s not so sure. Especially after seeing how these guys operate, having all the power in the universe seems so much less appealing than it used to.

Another clone is standing on the far side of the room, his back turned to Catra on her knees. Had he always been there? She can hear objects rustling against the surface of a countertop. There are various vails and syringes laid out before him, and the clone is clearly fidgeting with something in his hands.

When he turns around, he’s holding a small and white star-shaped object between a pair of large tweezers. The clone steadily approaches her, holding it positioned before his eyes.

“What is that thing?” her voice wavers unintentionally. She hadn’t meant to sound so scared.

“Exactly what I promised.” Prime begins to wander around the girl, circling her slowly like a hawk hunting its prey. His footsteps echo within the room. “You want to relieve your suffering, don’t you? You want to forget,” he coaxes in a disturbingly pleasant tone. “In just a few moments, you’ll realize that ridding yourself of _her_ is exactly what you needed.”

Catra feels her heart drop. All she can do is stare blankly at the wall in front of her, wide-eyed. A life without the memory of Adora? She can hardly even imagine. Who would she even be without her? Could Catra finally be happy? All Adora had done to her was break her heart. She _left_ her behind. Would ridding herself of all those memories really change this… feeling?

Catra absolutely despises herself for allowing Horde Prime to see through her so easily.

Finally, he stops directly in front of her. He kneels down to her level, giving her no choice but to look into his piercing green eyes.

Her heart pounds against her chest.

“After all…” he says, delicately tracing a finger along the girl’s jaw. “Adora’s already forgotten about _you_.”

Catra squeezes her eyes shut, forcing the sudden tears away. She inhales sharply and turns her head away, _refusing_ to listen to him anymore. _No_. No, no, no…

As if by reflex, Catra snaps her teeth and releases a hiss from the back of her throat. Prime’s hand jolts away from her face in an instant.

_Don’t fucking touch me._

Momentarily, Prime actually appears startled from her sudden outburst, but Catra only glares at him from underneath her furrowed brows, chest heaving and hard expression unfaltering.

She _knows_ he’s just saying that to hurt her. Catra knows more than anyone how this works. She’s been on the other side of it before. She’s witnessed manipulation in her life _far_ more than she’d ever want to admit.

He looks as if he’s about to start shouting or throwing things across the room. Breath audible, his eyebrows press together tightly before softening again. Then his face shifts into an expression that is completely unreadable to Catra.

For a second, she’s terrified. Then he raises his hand across his chest and Catra grunts from the impact, her head snapping to the side. Her cheek stings with pain.

With a subtle nod from Horde Prime, the two clones restraining Catra attempt to pull her to her feet just as Prime turns his back. She kicks her leg out instantly, refusing to let Prime just walk away. She struggles to fight against their hold.

Next thing she knows, the clones have slammed her head against a wall and she momentarily feels her vision go black. She groans painfully through clenched teeth, suddenly feeling dizzy. They lock her arms tightly behind her back.

Her chest tightens, breathing heavily.

“Fighting it is pointless,” Horde Prime assures, speaking from somewhere next to her ear. He’s circling around her again.

Catra can no longer see him with her neck craned and her cheek pressed firmly against the wall - all she can do is listen to Prime’s taunting voice speaking calmly from behind her shoulder. Despite how weak she feels, Catra forces herself to continue resisting their hold, but her strength against two invincible clones is beyond exhausting to try to maintain.

“I wouldn’t worry myself, Little Sister.”

Her eyes begin to water and she squeezes them shut once more. Then entirety of her body aches. Prime is clearly enjoying every second of this, but Catra cannot give him the satisfaction. She will _not_ act as his obedient pet anymore.

“You seem to have forgotten that I _always_ win. With or without your help, _She-Ra…_ will be _mine_.”

The tears roll silently down her cheeks, but Catra refuses to let a whimper escape her throat. She will _not_ let him see that he broke her.

 _This is it._ She’d crawled her way to the top just to fall back into the dirt again. Yet, even with her own life on the line, all she can manage to think about is Adora, and the fact that Catra will never get the chance to tell her how she felt all those years.

She never got to say goodbye.

Suddenly, what feels like a jolt of electricity _pierces_ into the back of her neck and Catra _screams_.

She stumbles away from the wall, hands clutching between her shoulder blades. Every muscle in her body tenses to its final point and her back arches from the excruciating pain emanating from her neck.

There may be voices shouting around her, but both her vision and hearing only seem to fade further away every passing second.

_What is happening to me?_

Her heart races faster. She scratches desperately at the skin, trying to rid herself of whatever entity that seems to be taking over. When she lowers her hands again, blood drips from underneath her fingernails.

The last thing she sees is Horde Prime, images of him and his countless clones flashing on and off inside her mind, before there’s another sharp pain just below her jaw and Catra’s vision finally goes black.

* * *

As Catra slowly opens her eyes again, all she sees is white. Or is it the ceiling of Horde Prime’s ship? She blinks slowly – again and again, her vision slowly regaining its focus.

Her head is _throbbing_ and Catra moans painfully from the feeling. It takes her a few moments to figure out where she is as the sound of those haunting chants gradually become louder and louder in her ears.

_“Cast out the shadows… cast out the shadows… cast out the shadows…”_

She cries out suddenly, writhing on her back as the image of Horde Prime’s cold face flashes across her mind once more.

All she sees is fire - destruction, blinding green lights and an _army_ of Prime’s clones, their haunting voices echoing inside her head. She’s not even sure anymore if what she’s hearing is real or not.

_“All must suffer to become pure… all must suffer to become pure…”_

When she wakes up again, she’s standing on a platform, overlooking a bubbling pool of neon green. How did she get here? Catra soon discovers her hands are bound behind her back, and with her heart pounding against her ribcage, all she can do is stare down into that blinding bright abyss beneath her trembling feet.

Confused and terrified, endless tears stream down her face.

_Adora…_

A silent sob escapes her tight throat.

_“Me? All I do is hurt people. There’s no one left in the entire universe who cares about me.”_

Catra can’t remember what happens after that.


End file.
